InventisBio, Co., Ltd.

Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), operating as MSD outside the US and Canada, and China-based InventisBio Co., Ltd. (SSE STAR: 688382) signed a collaboration agreement to jointly advance small molecule oncology drug candidates through clinical development, with MSD contributing its global R&D infrastructure through its China Innovation Collaboration Center (MCICC) and InventisBio providing oncology scientific expertise and development execution capabilities. No specific drug candidates, molecular targets, or trial identifiers were disclosed in the announcement. Financial terms were not disclosed. The collaboration is anchored in the MCICC, which MSD established in Beijing in 2024 as an open platform focused on early-stage, high-potential programs. The center has teams across Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Wuhan, and covers more than 20 cancer types within its oncology research portfolio, including several high-incidence cancers in China. InventisBio brings an established track record in small-molecule precision oncology. The company originally discovered taletrectinib, a next-generation ROS1 inhibitor that has since progressed through global development and is now approved in the US, China and Japan for advanced ROS1-positive NSCLC. The drug is marketed as Ibtrozi in the US by Nuvation Bio, with Eisai holding development and commercialization rights across Europe and several additional markets. The firm's current small-molecule pipeline includes Phase III oral SERD taragarestrant (D-0502), while its earlier oncology portfolio includes WRN inhibitor YF087 and KIF18A inhibitor YF550. The deal is the fourth formal collaboration signed by MCICC since its 2024 launch. MSD previously signed agreements with Degron Therapeutics for molecular glue degrader oncology programs and with Hangzhou Medimscience for antibody-based autoimmune programs, both channeled through the same MCICC platform structure. InventisBio itself held an earlier MOU with MCICC before this full agreement was executed, following the same escalation pattern observed in prior MCICC partnerships. Since its formation, MCICC has engaged with more than 600 domestic companies and conducted in-depth exchanges with more than 100. Access the AllSci platform to explore the science behind the news. Spot something wrong? Report an issue with this article

The KRAS-blocker race has intensified again, with Roche announcing Thursday that its investigational next-generation KRAS G12C inhibitor divarasib demonstrated superiority over approved first-generation agents — Amgen's Lumakras (sotorasib) and Bristol Myers Squibb's Krazati (adagrasib) — on survival outcomes in previously treated patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).The Phase III Krascendo 1 study enrolled 338 previously treated patients with KRAS G12C-mutant advanced or metastatic NSCLC who were randomised to receive either divarasib once daily, Lumakras once daily or Krazati twice daily. Top-line results showed that the head-to-head trial met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) and a key secondary goal of overall survival (OS), with divarasib demonstrating clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements on both measures over Lumakras and Krazati."These results should establish divarasib as a new standard of care for previously-treated…patients with this genetically defined tumour subtype," said Levi Garraway, Roche’s chief medical officer. From a safety perspective, no new signals were identified, with the most common treatment-related events described as manageable and reversible. The company will present detailed results at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) congress and also submit data to regulatory agencies to support marketing applications.Besides Krascendo 1, Roche's late-stage programme includes Krascendo 2, evaluating a chemotherapy-free combination of divarasib with Merck & Co.'s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) versus chemo-immunotherapy in first-line KRAS G12C-mutant NSCLC, and Krascendo 3, comparing adjuvant divarasib monotherapy against immunotherapy or observation in resected stage II–IIIB disease after standard chemo-immunotherapy.Evolving KRAS landscapeLumakras and Krazati received accelerated FDA approvals for second-line KRAS G12C-mutated NSCLC in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Meanwhile, China granted conditional approval in NSCLC to Innovent Biologics and GenFleet Therapeutics' Dupert (fulzerasib) — the country's first homegrown KRAS G12C inhibitor — in 2024 and subsequently to InventisBio's Anfangning (garsorasib) and Jacobio's glecirasib. Also in the development race are Merck's calderasib, D3 Bio's elisrasib and Eli Lilly’s olomorasib, among several others. Additionally, Revolution Medicines is taking a shot at KRAS-driven NSCLC with elironrasib, a G12C-selective covalent inhibitor and zoldonrasib, which targets KRAS G12D. However, it is the latter's RAS(ON) multi-selective inhibitor daraxonrasib that is perhaps being the most keenly watched.Having already delivered in a Phase III metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma study, pending results for daraxonrasib in a late-stage trial for NSCLC could in fact determine the direction that the KRAS landscape takes. For more, see — Spotlight On: Roche sets new bar in lung cancer subset, but could face competition from Revolution's daraxonrasib.

Merck (NYSE: MRK) has signed two clinical collaboration agreements and two memorandums of understanding with Chinese biotech companies through its MSD R\&D China Innovation Collaboration Center, targeting oncology and autoimmune disease programs for potential global development. The formal agreements cover antibody drug development in autoimmune diseases with Hangzhou Medimscience Biomedical Technology Co., Ltd, and molecular glue degrader programs in oncology with Degron Therapeutics, while MOUs with Zelgen Pharmaceutical and InventisBio (SSE STAR: 688382) establish exploratory frameworks for future collaboration. Financial terms were not disclosed. Deal context The collaboration with Degron centers on the company’s molecular glue degrader platform, described by Degron as GlueXplorer. Molecular glues are small molecules that induce or stabilize interactions between an E3 ubiquitin ligase and a target protein, directing the target for destruction by the cell’s proteasome. The mechanism operates catalytically — the drug is released after each degradation event — and can silence proteins that lack conventional binding pockets, a category that has historically resisted small-molecule drug development. Degron’s platform is built around more than 10,000 compounds spanning over 150 non-IMiD scaffolds. The collaboration with Medimscience covers antibody drugs in autoimmune disease. Neither the molecule identity nor the biological target has been disclosed. The two MOU partners, Zelgen and InventisBio, are at an earlier exploratory stage. InventisBio’s known pipeline includes small molecules directed at genomic instability mechanisms in cancer. The MCICC was established in 2024 as a dedicated unit within Merck’s global R\&D organization to source and advance early-stage programs from China’s biotech ecosystem. The center has engaged with more than 530 local companies and conducted detailed exchanges with over 100 of them. The two formal collaboration agreements signed in May represent the third and fourth such agreements since the center’s founding. Industry and transaction context Merck’s decision to formalize clinical co-development agreements through a dedicated China-based unit, rather than through conventional in-licensing, reflects a structural shift in how large pharmaceutical companies are engaging with Chinese biotech innovation. The MCICC model positions Merck as a development partner rather than a rights acquirer, with the stated goal of advancing China-originated programs into global clinical practice. The inclusion of a molecular glue degrader company is consistent with broader industry activity in targeted protein degradation. Degron Therapeutics signed a collaboration with Takeda worth up to USD 1.2 billion in May 2024, covering multiple oncology, neuroscience, and inflammation targets across the GlueXplorer platform. That deal represented one of the largest molecular glue partnerships disclosed to date and established Degron as a platform-level partner for major pharmaceutical companies. This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed and edited by the AllSci editorial team Explore more at AllSci News: https://allsci.com/news/ Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Comment * Name * Email * Website Copyright © 2026. AllSci Corp. All rights reserved.